she saw its raging glory
by JazzApples
Summary: [Post GOTG2] Groot wants to listen to music. Peter wants to process recent events. They both succeed (though that depends on your definition of success.)


Peter sat at the helm of the _Quadrant_ , looking out into a sea of stars. He noted in a detached way that it was very beautiful.

He held in his hands a clone of the Awesome Mix Vol. 2. He knew there had been a few Vol. 2's and Vol. 1's knocking around but he'd never thought much about it until now. Peter had unearthed one from a pile of clutter in the bridge and held it in his hands. It was a poor replacement. The music had survived, but like a body without a soul.

What would it sound like? Sharp, clear? Clean and clinical? None of the warm fuzz of a cassette tape, the whir of it moving in the Walkman…

The Walkman… he couldn't even begin to process that loss yet. He'd only now come round to thinking about the tape and before that…

He'd lost too many things.

Peter looked back to the clone, stared at it for a bit. He couldn't play this, not today…

'I am Groot?'

Peter startled round. Groot was standing in the doorway, looking at him with mildly concerned _goddamn adorable_ puppy eyes.

'Hey, Groot.' Peter tried for a smile. 'What's up?'

'I am Groot.' Groot looked at the cloned music in Peter hand and tried not to look expectant. Peter felt his face freeze.

'You want to listen to music?' Peter asked Groot, though he guessed Groot sensed his hesitation, when Groot stepped back, as if making to leave. Even as a baby, Groot could be good at sensing emotions (though, Peter supposed, they had Mantis now.)

But Peter was good at reading emotions on Groot now, and he could see the disappointment was there. And that hurt worse than the cold cloned tape in his hand.

And Peter kept smiling, even though such a feat was much harder than it sounded. 'C'mon over then.' He told Groot and patted the space beside him. While Groot settled down beside him, Peter fiddled around with the console, and soon the opening chords of ' _Mr. Blue Sky'_ were playing.

A huge, innocent smile was splitting across Groot's face. His eyes lit up, like stars coming to life. Peter decided that maybe he could learn to live with the cloned music after all.

They spent some time like that, Groot moving to the music with that funny wavy dance he did, and Peter singing the lyrics to every song to Groot. They watched the stars and clusters drift by like leaves on a stream. For a while, it was just him and Groot and the music, and Peter forgot.

Then Peter heard the opening strains of ' _Brandy_ ', and he felt a chill spreading within him. He must've frozen again; Groot was staring at him, but as much as he wanted to reassure Groot, he could barely reassure himself that he wasn't hearing his father's- _Ego's_ voice in his ear, saying ' _Brandy, you're a fine girl…_ '

' _My life, my lover, my lady, is the sea._ '

And in his mind's eye, Peter could see Ego's palace again, every minute detail (of which there were a lot). It was amazing the vantage point being impaled in mid-air could give you.

And there was Ego, standing in the centre of it all, staring dispassionately at the Walkman in his hands, which was still emitting the distorted strains of ' _Brandy_ '.

'Peter, this is the sea.'

And he was crushing the Walkman in his grip, and something in Peter was being crushed along with it and _he couldn't do anything-_

Peter snapped back to the present in a hot wave of panic and switched the music off.

It was silent now. It was almost worse.

The panic had burned out of Peter by now, and all that was left was the smouldering fury within him. Even when he was dead Ego was still taking his mother away from him. His mother had liked that song. Peter hadn't missed the way her face would light up whenever it came on, which, in his books, made it the best song ever. But Ego had tainted that too, like he had when he left his mother alone with the beginnings of brain cancer.

Peter could feel Groot's gaze burning into him. Peter turned sluggishly towards him, trying to shake off his dark thoughts. Groot was looking openly concerned now, and under that innocent concern Peter could feel his anger ebb away. He picked up Groot carefully and set him in his lap, giving him an apologetic smile. He sat like that with Groot for a while, letting in the here and now, and all that came with it.

Eventually he felt something moving in his pockets, and turned to see Groot using his vines to pull the Zune out of Peter's pockets. Groot tugged the thing towards himself and, slowly, lifted it over his head triumphantly.

That drew a real smile out of Peter, as he gently took the Zune from Groot and patted his head affectionately. Seeing the Zune had always made Peter feel a pang in his heart, and he wasn't sure if there would be a time when the sight of it wouldn't elicit such a response, that made him think of the heavy toll he had paid to have it. But the Zune was special now, and Peter would be damned if he didn't value this one last thoughtful gift from Yondu.

'Yeah,' agreed Peter. 'Let's listen to some new music.'

He passed an earbud to Groot and put the other in his own ear, set the Zune to shuffle, and pressed play.


End file.
